Social Media Breakfast recap

We had a great time at this morning’s Raleigh Social Media Breakfast. It’s always nice to put faces to names, avatars and commenters, and we were really excited to share information about the Fair.

We met in the Jim Graham restaurant on the State Fairgrounds at 7:45 a.m. to discuss how social media (Facebook, blogs, Twitter and beyond) are changing the way people get their news, communicate and do business. We presented information on the different successes and challenges we had with this new type of media, and here are some the key points we presented on our experience:

• Our four main goals were to increase buzz and excitement about the Fair; introduce the State Fair to new audiences; interact with the media in new ways; and have two-way conversations with anyone interested in gaining more information on the Fair.
• As traditional media changes, social media sites, blogging and micro-blogging are increasingly becoming a way to target key audiences and the media with our messages of agriculture, North Carolina heritage, entertainment value and family fun.
• Our Deep Fried blog, Facebook profile and Twitter page seemed to work the best together, as they fed into each other and encouraged comments and participation across the board.
• The success of the Deep Fried blog helped us establish our In the Field blog for the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, as we look for more ways to reach out to future generations of farmers, put faces to government employees and inform consumers about the ways we are serving them.
• We are looking to new ways to use social media (including Brightkite, social media releases, e-cards, Web site badges, and more) for the 2009 State Fair, as well as how the NCDA&CS can utilize it as well.

We got to share the stage with Eric Miltsch from Auction Direct, who talked about how his organization is using social media in the used-car industry.

We’d like to give a big thanks to Kipp Bodnar, who organized the meeting, and Murphy’s House Restaurant, who graciously opened up the restaurant for us this morning.